In a high-stakes humanitarian exchange, El Salvador offers to send Venezuelans home—if Venezuela frees its most vocal political prisoners.
Via his social media, the president of El Salvador announced the release of 252 Venezuelans held in a maximum-security prison in the country.
El Salvador’s president also added that the exchange would include “nearly 50 detainees of other nationalities.”
El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele, proposed a “humanitarian agreement” to his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolás Maduro, on Sunday. The proposal aims to repatriate Venezuelan migrants expelled from the United States and held in a Salvadoran maximum-security prison on charges of belonging to the transnational criminal gang Tren de Aragua, in exchange for the release of political prisoners.
“I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that includes the repatriation of 100% of the 252 Venezuelans who were deported, in exchange for the release and handover of an identical number (252) of the thousands of political prisoners you are holding,” Bukele wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Bukele began his message by addressing Maduro directly, saying:
“You have repeatedly said that you want Venezuelans to return and live in freedom.”
He added:
“Unlike you, who has political prisoners, we do not. All the Venezuelans we have in custody were detained during operations against gangs like Tren de Aragua in the United States.”
“Unlike our detainees—many of whom have committed murder, others rape, and some had been arrested multiple times before deportation—your political prisoners have committed no crimes. The only reason they are jailed is for opposing you and your fraudulent elections,” said Bukele.
He named some of Venezuela’s most prominent political prisoners, including:
- Rafael Tudares, son-in-law of opposition candidate Edmundo González
- Roland Carreño, journalist
- Rocío San Miguel, lawyer and activist
- Corina Parisca de Machado, mother of María Corina Machado, who reportedly faces daily harassment and sabotaged access to electricity and water
- As well as four political leaders currently sheltered in the Argentine embassy and other political prisoners.
Bukele added that the proposed exchange would also include nearly 50 detainees of other nationalities, including citizens from:
- The United States
- Germany
- The Dominican Republic
- Argentina
- Bolivia
- Israel
- Chile
- Colombia
- Ecuador
- Spain
- France
- Guyana
- The Netherlands
- Iran
- Italy
- Lebanon
- Mexico
- Peru
- Puerto Rico
- Ukraine
- Uruguay
- Portugal
- Czech Republic
Bukele concluded that the Salvadoran Ministry of Foreign Affairs would send formal correspondence and ended his statement with:
“May God bless the people of Venezuela.”
The U.S. government has reportedly reached an agreement with Bukele’s administration to transfer migrants detained in the U.S. to Cecot, El Salvador’s maximum-security Terrorism Confinement Center, a facility widely criticized for alleged human rights violations.
In total, over 200 migrants, most of them Venezuelan, have been transferred to Cecot, accused of having ties to Tren de Aragua.
